“You’re selling a brand”: Marketing commercial sex online

Sex work has undergone a change, with the rise of the internet economy with more ‘middle class’ sex workers coming into the industry. In this paper, I explore the social status hierarchy within online direct-contact commercial sex work in New Zealand. I draw on findings from an in-depth qualitative investigation of online sex work, undertaken between 2017 and 2018. I took a participatory approach, working closely with NZPC – Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers’ Collective to provide an understanding of two interrelated issues: the role web platforms play in shaping the social status of sex workers who advertise for clients online; and how sex workers brand and market themselves online. The findings suggest that sex workers strive to represent themselves as authentic in their marketing to enhance social status. Furthermore, the web platform on which over 90% of indoor sex workers in New Zealand advertise has embedded a status system among sex workers through the advertising packages they offer. Social status has thus become the most powerful marketing tool indoor direct-contact sex workers have to stand out from their competitors and attract sufficient clients to make a liveable income.

Development of the My Cult-Rural Toolkit

The EU H2020 RURITAGE project takes 20 case studies, considered to be Role Models (RMs) of successful heritage-led rural regeneration from Europe, to analyze them and transfer knowledge and learning to a network of Replicators (Rs). To quantify the success of these RURITAGE interventions, a monitoring framework has been developed which includes a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and a co-monitoring program. This program takes a bottom-up approach working with key stakeholders to understand their values. The My Cult-Rural Toolkit described in this paper has been designed and developed to support the co-monitoring program. The toolkit includes various methods allowing expert and non-expert engagement with the landscape valuation process through embodied and situated approaches. All the co-monitoring tools share the principle of gathering data through real-time interaction in the place of interest, following principles of the embodied approach to ecosystems’ valuation. The toolkit employs both participatory hands-on workshops (Mini-Landscapes, Object Mapping, and Walking Maps) for in-depth understanding of values attached with landscape, and digital mobile apps (Rate my View App and Landscape Connect App) for exploratory, participatory mapping. This paper describes the toolkit and discusses benefits and limitations of its usage in the context of co-monitoring of cultural and natural heritage (CNH) inspired rural change.

Supporting young people with type 1 diabetes: experiences from healthcare professionals in Sweden

Background Healthcare professionals in paediatric care face great demands to provide high-quality acute care and support for young people with long-term illnesses, such as type 1 diabetes. This study aims to describe healthcare professionals' experiences of supporting young people with type 1 diabetes in order to improve care. Methods A qualitative research design was used to conduct individual interviews with seven healthcare professionals. The interview transcripts were subjected to inductive qualitative thematic content analysis. Results Four themes were identified: strengthening young people's motivation, sharing knowledge for better support, the imbalance between resources and needs and the transition of responsibility to the young person and their family. Conclusions Healthcare professionals described motivating young people to improve their metabolic control by using a person-centred approach. Working in a team strengthened cross-professional perspectives, competence and understanding of young people's support needs and developed diabetes care. The transition of responsibility from healthcare to families and young people was important in improving glycemic control. The increased imbalance in resources and support needs in diabetes care must be addressed at a societal level and adapted according to today's needs.

Facilitating the Scholarship of Discovery: Using the Mini-Ethnographic Case Study Design

Background: Case study is widely used in teaching and learning literature; however, the extant literature contains few examples of student-developed case studies. This study used the situated perspective of experiential education (EE) to highlight context and legitimate peripheral participation encouraging enculturation into research communities of practice. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a mini-ethnographic case study (MECS) during an international service-learning (ISL) experience to transform ISL and EE pedagogy through the inquiry-as-EL approach. The MECS design is a research method that uses an ethnographic approach bounded within case study methodology. Methodology/Approach: Working collaboratively, four students designed and implemented an MECS research project during an ISL. Using the crafted profile technique, data were analyzed to evaluate the impact of the MECS design on the students’ experience and research skill development while in country. Findings/Conclusions: The MECS approach helped students develop their own exploratory research framework and have real-world experiences with data collection, analysis, and dissemination as emerging researchers. Implications: This study describes how the MECS design can be used as a tool to enhance service-learning experiences for students, especially during graduate education.

SHORT SUPPLY CHAIN OF WASTE FLOWS: DESIGNING LOCAL NETWORKS FOR LANDSCAPE REGENERATION

Creating a circular economy poses multiple challenges yet has social opportunity. It represents a key approach to implement the management of more sustainable waste flows to achieve win-win solutions consistent with the EU environment goals, and with the social-economic expectations. As part of the comprehensive outcomes of the EU funded research project REPAIR, the paper presents the results for new technological soils, designed with the aim of implementing the number of products coming from the recycling of both C&D waste and organic waste. The paper discusses the technical issues of this solution in the framework of the specific characteristic of its supply chain. The research aim is focused on the design approach, working on the new products and process at once. Further, the project highlights the importance of dedicated local networks for sharing knowledge in between different stakeholders and experts, and for promoting innovation at local scales.

Informal work: an analysis of the production of the last 10 years in Brazil

According to the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), informal work, although prior to the 1990s, has its consolidation in the Brazilian economy as one of the side effects of the Real Plan. The objective of this study is to carry out a review of the national literature on informal work. Studies on informal work in national databases that include Brazilian scientific journals classified as A1, A2, B1 and B2 in the areas of Social Sciences, Human Sciences and Health Sciences published between 2008 and 2017 were reviewed. It could be observed that the study of informal work remained constant over the years, with a total of 14 (fourteen) articles between 2008 and 2010, 13 (thirteen) articles between 2011 and 2013 and 16 (sixteen) other articles between 2014 and 2017. Regarding the methodological approach, the research shows that, in the articles analyzed, the qualitative approach, working with values, beliefs, representations, habits, attitudes and opinions, useful to understand the context in which the phenomenon occurs, was used in 74% of the studies, while the quantitative studies that seek to generate accurate and reliable measures, and measure opinions, attitudes and models capable of predicting behavior represented only 19% of the articles. The cut made for this study showed that only 43 articles, out of a total of 440 previously researched and included in the original database, consisted of studies on the relationship with work among informal workers, noting that this theme in question is underrepresented in Brazilian research work.